Human Resource Management Options - Research Paper Example

1. We are selling mobile phone with dual sim card and TV function. Also we sell all of accessories for mobile phone. And we do mobile phone repair service too. Our daily operation consists of selling our products, entertaining queries and if any, complaints from our customers. We also service defective celphones. A. Annotate the following table to help identify the human resources requirements for the business operation (at least 4 for each): Area of Requirement List the Requirements Skills Needed a. Customer Service b. Technical know how c. Accounting/bookeeping a. Good communication skills and pleasant disposition b. Product training c. Basic training Level of Competence a. Customer Service-Very High b. Techinical Know How - High c. Accounting/Bookeeping-Basic a. Extensive Training about Customer Service b. Good grasp of the technical specification of the product to be able to explain it to customers c. Basic knowledge about accounting, inventory, costing, etch. Capability a. Timelines b. Pleasant disposition c. Attention to details Professionalism on the part of the employee. B. Assess if the owner, operator or proprietor handle these skill requirements? The owners of the business are technically well verse with information technology and had previous experience in customer service. The owners also took accounting class. Identify skill gaps (for example, one might be Bookkeeping) that need to be addressed? Since this is the first time of the owners to enter into a business venture, the owners might lack the managerial skills to manage people and organization. C. Complete the following profile for how these identified skill gaps can be filled? Area of Requirement Human Resource Requirements Skills Management and Organizational Skills Need to undergo leadership and management training Level of Competence Advance May need a consultant if owners will have difficulty in managing the business Capability Able to management an organization where its objectives are met if not exceeded Knowledge in metrices and ability to interpret financial statements to measure and determine if objectives are met 2. Identify potential sources of personnel A. Estimate your personnel needs in terms of: Item Your definition Skill sets already in place Technical know-how and customer service The present capability that we have. Right now, the owners have the technical know how about the products and had experience with customer service. Present personnel manifested strength in this area too. Skill sets needed Managerial skills Capabilities that are presently lacking. Since the business is still new, managers and personnel alike are still in the process of adapting to working in an organization Staff numbers needed 15 Initially we will need around 15 staffs to run the business smoothly. This will entail having personnel in the frontline, back office and service area. Hours of work needed to be catered 70 Hours 70 hours. We will operating 10 hours a day, Monday to Sunday How fluctuations will be addressed Supervisors complementing the workforce or personnel on rest day may be asked to render over time work. In case of a sudden upsurge in demand, the supervisors can complement the lack of personnel. Personnel who are on rest days may be asked to render an overtime to fill in the lack of personnel. B. You have identified the skill sets needed (above). Write them down in the left column below. In the right column beside it, match possible sources of human resources. In this right hand column, include as source examples contract workers, casual staff, co-owner, etc Identified skill set needed Possible sources of Human Resource Managerial skills Hiring seasoned managers Customer service Training of personnel Technical know-how Product training C. What do you plan to do in order to recruit suitable staff now and in the future who will meet your requirements in terms of skills, competency, capability and staffing levels? To attract the best people, I have to make a good image for the company that it is a very good place to work with. I will impress to prospective employees that as a new company, there will be plenty of space for them to grow. But of course, the pay and benefit should also be competitive so that the best people will be encouraged to join the company. 3. Evaluate human resource management options You want an efficient business operation. You have decided on the skill sets needed, and even about where to resource these skill set needs. What about managing the outcomes? A. Outline what your business does. Include the size of the business and the market you serve The potential market for our product is huge. New Zealand has 3.87 million subscribers comprising a 94% penetration rate (National Business Review, March 22, 2011). Those subscribers are also celphone users which are the potential customer for our dual SIM celphones. Annotate the table below: Business Need or outcome required Viability in the market. Able to meet targets and objective List the mix of staff who will provide these outcomes 1. Owner – will work -full time in the introductory phase of the business. This is to assure that the business will be successful in the introductory phase. 2. Frontliners – will interact with the customers and has to work full time. 3. Back-office – will do paper work and support for frontliners. Has to work full time. 4. Repair people – will be doing the repair service of the business. Has to work full time. 5. Supervisor – oversee the daily operation of the business. Has to work full time. How many hours are required from each workder 8 hours What methods will be used to employ the staff? Shifting to cover the 10 hour business operation with a workforce that will work only for 8 hours How will the worker be remunerated Competitive according to industry standard. Company is open for giving additional business if it will be successful. B. How will you manage your human resources, and ensure high quality outputs? Proper motivation and shared vision of the company. Monitor performance by getting feedbacks and report from supervisors and constant training to retool employees to get better with the job. C. What can you do to ensure both accountability and proactive initiative from your staff (or if you like “creative licence without restrictiveness”)? Since the business is still in its infancy, supervisors must get feedbacks from employees on how to improve the system of the business. This is important because it is the employees who are on the ground and has the actual “feel” of the operation and therefore in a position to suggest to recommendation to improve how things are done in the business. 4. Identify employment obligations and responsibilities A. In the table below, identify the relevant Employment legislation beside each category and comment on how this legislation relates to your business operation. It is important to state at this stage of the business that while the employer will set up grievance and dispute mechanism within the organization to accommodate such, the objective should be to avoid them because they are counterproductive and can disrupt work which is not healthy at this point of starting up the business. Category of Legislation Laws that the business operation must follow Wages Minimum Wage Act 1983. For employees 16 years and above, minimum wage should be at $12 an hour except for new entrants and employees under training who will receive $ 9.60 an hour for an eight hour day. Holidays Holidays Act 2003. Employees are entitled to receive four weeks paid annual holiday after each year of employment. An employee will still get holiday pay for any shorter periods of work. Leave Two laws must be followed with regard to employees leave which are Holidays Act 2003 & Parental leave - Parental Leave & Employment Protection Act 1987. Employees are entitled to five days paid sick leave after the sixth month of tenure with the employer. Sick leave can also be applied for care of their spouse or dependent child or parent during the next 12 months. Unused leave can accumulate up to 20 days. After six months, an employee is also entitled to three days bereavement leave on the death spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild or the spouse’s parent and one if the employer accepts that the employee has suffered bereavement. Employees are also entitled for parental leave either on the birth of a child, or the adoption of a child under 5. They must have worked at least an average of 10 hours each week, including at least one hour per week or 40 hours per month, for the same employer for either 6 or 12 months before the expected date of birth or adoption. An employee and their partner can apply for parental leave either on the birth of a child, or the adoption of a child under 5. They must have worked at least an average of 10 hours each week, including at least one hour per week or 40 hours per month, for the same employer for either 6 or 12 months before the expected date of birth or adoption. Equal Pay Equal Pay Act 1972. The employer cannot differentiate in pay rates between employees if the only difference is their sex. Hours of work Minimum wages - Minimum Wage Act 1983. All employment agreements are required to describe the working hours. As implied in the Minimum Wage Act of 1983 where a day wage is computed as eight hours, daily hour of work shall be set at eight hours. All employment agreements are required to describe the working hours. Although it is not compulsory to designate lunch and other meal or tea breaks, employers requiring staff to work long periods without breaks may be in breach of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. Shift provision Equal Pay Act 1972 & Human Rights Act 1993. Shifts are covered in the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 where the law states that the working environment should not endanger the health and safety of employees at work. We should ensure that the change of shifts of employees working hours and days will not be inimical to the employees health and well being. Health and safety provision Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. The emphasis of the law is on the systematic management of health and safety at work. It requires employers and others to maintain safe working environments, and implement sound practice and recognises that successful health and safety management is best achieved through good faith co-operation in the place of work and, in particular, through the input of those doing the work. Equal employment opportunities Equal Pay Act 1972 & Human Rights Act 1993. The employer cannot discriminate in hiring or firing, training or promoting because of the employees race, colour, national or ethnic origin, sex or sexual orientation, marital or family status, employment status, age, religious belief or political opinion, or if they have a disability. B. There are a number of different types of employment agreement. Discuss the following in terms of what they mean. Which employment agreement options would you use? Why? Agreement or Procedure Explain these and indicate what you will put in place Collective employment agreement Is a written agreement between the employer and employee through a registered union on behalf of their members. This may not be applicable as the business is still starting and no labor union has been established within the business yet. Individual employment agreements A written agreement between the employer and the employee on the terms of employment that includes pay and benefits. This is applicable for the business since there is no union yet. Terms of agreement will be made during the hiring of a prospective employee. Effective personal grievance procedures The law provides that an employee must let the employer know about his or her grievance, and that they want something done about it, within 90 days of the action complained of, or the date they became aware of it, whichever is the later. If the employer is not told about the grievance within 90 days, the employer need not consider it unless the Employment Relations Authority allows the employee to raise it after 90 days. It is highly advisable that employees grievance at this stage of business should be handled seriously because this will have a serious impact on the employee’s motivation and can undermine the business at its critical stage. C. In relation to your small business operation, what sorts of policies will you put in place with respect to: Agreement or Procedure What you will put in place Procedures for settling employment disputes If employees at some time, have issues about their work and that their employment agreement has not been kept or changed without their agreement, it is best for a small business especially at its start up phase to provide an avenue for clarificatory talk to avoid the escalation of dispute that can disrupt work. The business can set up a feedback mechanism about to accommodate this through the supervisor or the human relations department. If it cannot be resolved, the unhappy party may resort to the ERA and if they are not contented with the ERA’s adjudication, they can take the problem to the Employment court. This is not in the form of an appeal but is a full judicial hearing of the original problem. Like the ERA, the Court will consider whether mediation might contribute constructively to resolving the matter. It can direct the parties back to mediation at any stage if it thinks this will help resolve the problem. This should be avoided in this stage of the business because this will undermine employees motivation and can disrupt work. Employment policies That allow effective deployment of Human Resources, and achieve Equitable and Responsible outcomes for all parties Provisions of the employment agreement which is the subject of dispute must be clearly stated in writing to avoid any dispute in the future which could forfeit employees goodwill and disrupt work. In relation to your small business operation, how will these policies that are put in place be negotiated? Agreement or Procedure What you will put in place Procedures for settling employment disputes Employment disputes should be coursed through the Employee Relations Department in writing to resolve it internally. Afterwhich, a meeting can be arranged between the employer and employee to discuss the terms of employment. If the employee still chose to elevate the issue, they can resort to ERA or the Employment Court. Employment policies That allow effective deployment of Human Resources, and achieve Equitable and Responsible outcomes for all parties The employment agree that is signed by the employee should be clear to avoid misunderstanding and dispute in the future. This will save both parties from the aggravation of dispute. In the event of a dispute, how will these policies that are put in place be mediated and adjudicated? Agreement or Procedure How mediation and adjudication take place? Procedures for settling employment disputes These policies will first seek clarification with the dispute of the employee. If indeed the dispute is valid, the issue can be resolved internally and avoid an expensive law suit. Through this, the goodwill of the employee can still be preserved. The objective however is to avoid dispute by ensuring that the business will abide with the employment agreement and that the agreement itself is clearly stated Employment policies That allow effective deployment of Human Resources, and achieve Equitable and Responsible outcomes for all parties Issues on employment policies and employee deployment can be best resolved through dialogue. This can be settled on the level of Supervisor to determine the present deployment of an employee is effective or not. The supervisor can also effect remedial measure with the approval of the manager. 5. Plan how work will be allocated and evaluated A. How do you match the skills of your work team to achieve the needs of your small business operation? Upon hiring, a competency assessment exam will be given to the employees to determine where their aptitude can be best suited in the operation of the business. In addition, educational background and work experience will be considered in deciding where to place them in the organization. What happens in times of mismatch? There are two remedies. The employee will be redeployed in a job function that he/she is suited for. For example, those with engineering background deployed to do accounting will be redeployed to the service department where he/she can effectively repair defective cellphones. A retraining will be conducted to hone the skill needed for the job. B. Choose either your own business, a PC Repair and Servicing Business; or a Coffee Shop; or a Motor Mechanic / Garage business operation. Choose the business and chose a work activity that is essential for this business. List it below. I choose my own business which is a distributor of dual SIM celphones and service center. The work activity that is essential for this business is pleasant customer interaction and customer service because this is what will differentiate us from competition. Write the personal specifications needed in order to perform this required work activity. Pleasant disposition and prompt delivery of service in case customers have issues with their phones. Write a brief job description for the work activity. For customer service representative – at least six months experience in the service industry with at least high school diploma or equivalent. Must have a pleasant personality and disposition. Prepare an employment advertisement for the work activity How are expectation of performance and required standards clearly and effectively communicated? During training, employees should already be oriented about performance expectation and required standards of the business. In addition, upon the assumption of a post, supervisors must clearly reiterate and explain performance expectation and required standards of the company. Employees should also be given a hard copy of performance expectation and standards. C. How can personnel contribute their views and expertise to the small business operation? This can be best solicited during the process of giving feedback to the employees where employees are also asked to give their views about the job and the operation. What mechanisms can be included in your staff evaluation processes, ( eg Performance Appraisals), to help staff feel they are contributing positively to the business enterprise. Who should perform staff evaluations? There should be a Performance Appraisal with clear cut metrices in place to provide employees how they are performing compared to the set standard of the business. Evaluation can be done the supervisor or Quality Assurance Team. Why is it important to have free flowing communication between management and staff? To ensure that the employees point of view about the business is aligned with the business’ objective. Also to make the staff “a part” of the business. 6. Identify staff development needs and establish staff development policies. Identify the business operation you intend to operate. Identify the staff needed A. How will you evaluate staff performance (individuals and group)? A quarterly Performance Appraisal or Audit may be done to evaluate how employees are performing according to the company’s set standard. This is also to immediately identify any areas of improvement where the business can immediately apply remedial measure. How will you establish development needs for the staff? How will these be justified? Identification of Areas of Improvement during Performance Appraisal and Audit will determine the development need of the staffs. Its importance will be best emphasize when there is a breakdown in service which could be avoided by establishing a development program for the employees. B. Explain how staff will have input on performance evaluation Communication should be two way. Staff should also be asked what he/she felt about the result of the evaluation and the reply should be documented. Explain how staff will have opportunities to identify training and development needs. Asking for feedback from the staff during appraisal and audit will provide the business an opportunity to determine if its training and development program is effective and doing them well. C. How will the development needs of the manager and / or owner be identified in relation to their workplace role The best gauge for identifying the developmental needs of a manager and/or owner would be the performance of the business. If the objectives of the business are met, it is a very good indication of the manager/owners efficacy. If it is not meeting its objective, the area where performance is lacking should be identified then we would know what particular area the manager/owner should improve on. How will the development needs of the manager and / or owner be identified in relation to their enterprise management role The best gauge of the developmental needs of the manager/owner would be the performance of the business itself. It is important to determine whether the business is making money or delivering the service it promised to its customer. If it does, then it only manifests that the manager/owner is effective in managing and leading the business. D. Describe how policies and processes encourage self management for staff, and how these policies are aligned with business direction and personal preferences of staff Policies and processes will initiate the culture within an organization which will later be ingrained in the “psyche” of the organization. This organizational culture will later determine how staff manages themselves without the presence of a superior or without an appraisal. This policies and processes should align with the vision of the business. Describe how policies and processes encourage professional development for staff in line with business direction and personal preferences of staff At this stage, policies and processes will set the precedent of how the organization will develop itself considering that the business is still new. Culture within the organization is still in the process of being established. Basically, policies and processes will reinforce and establish desired behavior in the company. If policies and processes encourages and rewards excellent performance, then development will naturally follow because of the “nurturing” environment of the business. E. Explain how the policies and processes for individual and group staff development are appropriate and relevant for this small business enterprise. In particular, are they cost effective and able to be resourced? The establishment of polices and processes at this stage of the business is not only important but also critical. It should not be resourced. Because at this stage of the business, the organization is still in its formative stage where organizational norm and culture is still being establish. Such, the establishment of policies and processes that reinforces and rewards excellence and performance should be established for the organization to develop a culture and environment that nurtures development. Reference: National Business Reviews, March 22, 2011. Retrieved on July 15, 2011 at http://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/what-2degrees-should-announce-tomorrow Read More